The present invention relates to coverings for furniture formed of flexible material and open at one end for containing furniture during shipment and for offering protection to the furniture contained therein, and particularly to coverings of this type which are formed of juxtaposed layers of flexible materials in sheet form and which are folded into the requisite shape for covering furniture.
It is conventional practice for furniture manufacturers to utilize a collapsible covering, open on one end, to cover furniture for shipment. A proper covering must be resistant to tearing, padded, easily opened, and must offer an inner surface which is non-damaging to the furniture contained therein. Conventional coverings have offered these features in a disposable format.
A typical covering is formed of layered materials including an inner surface of polyethylene which is smooth, thus preventing so-called "rub" damage to the furniture. Additional layers include roughened paper which provides a cushioned effect and an outside layer of 50# extensible wet strength paper to protect the furniture from wetness and tearing. Typically, the material is formed into sheets having the layers adhered to one another at the edges using hot melt glue, folded into shape and sewn together using nylon thread at the edges to form the collapsible covering.
While this type of bag construction can be effective as a furniture covering, it has significant drawbacks from an environmental standpoint. Typically, these coverings are used once, then discarded, which results in a sizable waste of materials, particularly when the coverings are large enough to cover large pieces of furniture.
As with other single use goods, recycling has become a way to reuse raw materials and eliminate waste, the disposal of which is becoming increasingly difficult. The currently used furniture coverings offer limited possibilities of recycling. The inner layer of polyethylene, while possibly recyclable, is of a different material than the rest of the covering and must be separated from the rest of the covering prior to any attempts at recycling. In addition, wet strength paper is difficult to recycle and the nylon thread utilized to sew the edges together is of a different material than either the inner layer or the rest of the covering. In sum, current furniture covering construction prevents easily recycling the material used therein. The disparate material used, as well as the method of attaching the materials together, discourages rather than encourages recycling efforts.